TRIAL OF A TIME LORD: THE VALEYARD

Chapter Twenty Four

The first and second Doctors watched as Alan and Rain moved back and the tube with the Doctor slowly opened. Alan caught him as the Doctor hugged Alan and Alan sent comfort into his mind.

"I say, who is this fellow?" the second Doctor asked while the Doctor softly laughed and Alan helped him walk toward the first and second Doctor.

"I'm you," the Doctor said and the first Doctor blinked.

"I become a string bean?" he asked and the Doctor laughed.

"At some point, Sir," he said with a nod.

"And I get a brother and a wife?" the second Doctor asked, pointing at Alan and Rain.

"Yep," Alan said, popping the "p"

"What did he do to you, dear fellow?" the first Doctor asked and the Doctor sighed, knowing he couldn't tell them too much and scratched the back of his neck.

"He placed me in a dream world, made me relive one of the most horrific days of my life and changed the outcome," he said and they nodded.

"Do you think he did the same to the others?" Rain said as she looked at the tubes and the first Doctor shook his head.

"No, my dear, we were just somewhere else," he said and she nodded.

"Wait, Te'lesau, didn't we see Amato?" Alan asked.

"Who is Amato?" the second Doctor asked.

"He's a friend," the Doctor said then looked at Alan. "Do you think he's taken the rest of the family?"

"There's only one way to find out!" Alan said then turned and looked at Hamish and Mirza. "Mirza, you stay here with Hamish and the Doctors and we'll be right back!"

"Yes, Mast...Alan," Mirza said with a nod of his head and the Doctor, Alan and Rain left the room. Mirza looked at Hamish as he nodded and walked to the next tube. He was about to touch the frosted glass when he turned and walked to the last tube, the stick clicking softly on the floor.

"What are you doing?" the second Doctor asked and Hamish blinked. He slowly reached out as he placed his hand on the glass and went ridged.

The wind blew in his ears as Hamish opened his eyes and stood up. Dusting himself off, he picked up the stick when he walked across the barren landscape and the ground crunched under his feet. He listened to the wind howling around him when he saw someone sitting on a large rock and was rubbing his leg. Hamish softly walked closer when the thirteenth Doctor looked at him and smiled.

"Hello, Hamish," he said and Hamish blinked.

"Hello, Doctor," Hamish said and the thirteenth Doctor grunted, rubbing his leg some more. "Are you alright, Doctor?"

"I broke my leg a little while ago. Hurts like hell," he said and Hamish nodded.

"Um, I understand that I am not supposed to know what lies ahead for me but I need tae ken one thing. What is my destiny?" he asked and the thirteenth Doctor smiled.

"Well, I can't go into details, but you are going to become a vital part of Gallifreyan society."

"Are you saying that I am going tae be more than just a teacher?"

"Yep, you are going to be brilliant!"

"Can you give me a clue?"

"Did your father ever tell you about the War Games?"

"Aye, he said that was the last adventure he had with my pa-paw."

"Did he tell you about the War Chief?"

"He said that the War Chief was the evil bastard behind the games."

"Well, that wasn't true. The War Lord was behind the games. The War Chief was just taking pleasure out of watching the men and women he had captured fight the same battles over and over."

"That's barbaric!"

"Yeah, but, you see, you will become the new War Chief," the thirteenth Doctor said and Hamish's eyes went wide.

"Are you telling me that I'll turn evil an' use people like so many pieces on the chessboard?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. All I can tell you is that the War Chief plays an important role in bringing peace to the universe."

"An' this War Chief is me?" he asked and the thirteenth Doctor nodded.

"How are things going? Is Namid with you?"

"Aye, she is an' I've woken two of you. Alan an; Rain woke up your tenth life," Hamish said and the thirteenth Doctor sighed.

"Yeah, I remember what that bastard did to me," he said with a nod of his head then blinked. "Have any of you contacted Adam yet?"

"Why?"

"Never mind," the thirteenth Doctor said with a wave of his hand and tried to stand up. Hamish knew that he couldn't touch him as the thirteenth Doctor grunted and slowly stood up, smiling at him. "Guess it's time to wake up, yeah?"

"Aye, so it is," Hamish said as they closed their eyes and faded away.

"Careful now," the second Doctor said as Hamish blinked and Mirza helped the thirteenth Doctor to sit on the chair near the door. Mirza placed another chair under the thirteenth Doctor's leg and Hamish moved slowly toward him and the stick clicked against the chair.

"How are you feeling, Doctor?" he asked and the thirteenth Doctor smiled. He forgot that Hamish was still blind as he touched Hamish's hand and Hamish wrapped his fingers around his fingers.

"I'm ok," he said then looked at the other tubes and blinked. "Guess you better go wake up the others."

"Aye," Hamish said as he let go of the thirteenth Doctor's hand and walked toward the tubes.

(Adam's universe)

Tony and Adam walked into the control room while John and Nigel looked at them and Tony looked at the console. Adam nodded as Tony walked closer and placed his hands on the console.

"This isn't your TARDIS, is it?" he asked while Adam walked closer and shook his head.

"This is Alan's TARDIS," Adam said and Tony smiled.

"They let him have one?" he teased and Adam gently smacked his arm. "Is he still loony?"

"Oh yeah," Adam said then introduced him to John and Nigel and Tony nodded at him.

"So, now what do we do?" John said while Nigel looked at the screen and blinked.

"Um, I think we should get the hell out of here!" Nigel said as they looked at the screen and Tony noticed that his people were coming back down the alleyway.

"How many people are on your team?" Adam asked.

"Around thirty," Tony said and Adam nodded.

"Right," Adam said then looked up at the ceiling. Before he could speak, three imagers and toy blasters appeared on the console and Adam gently stroked the glass. "Put these on and let's go."

"Where are we going?" Nigel asked and Adam looked at the doors.

"We're about to join Torchwood," he said while placing the imager on, picked up the toy blaster and headed for the doors.

Mirza was stunned by how different each life of the Doctor was from the other as they stood around in small, talking to each other, and watched as Hamish walked to the last two tubes and blinked. He didn't ask the Doctor's older lives about the War Chief, though it was the second Doctor who would meet him eventually, but he wondered if the last two lives would know when it happened and why.

"Well, Lad, you're nae going tae fine out by standing here," he thought when he placed his hand on the glass and went ridged.

Standing up, Hamish held the stick in his hand as he walked along the barren landscape and started walking. The thunder echoed around him as he looked around when he saw the eleventh Doctor curled into a ball on the ground and he half ran toward him, kneeling down on the ground.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" he asked and the eleventh Doctor looked at him.

"Who are you?" he asked and Hamish sat back on his legs. Duer had told him about being forced to regenerate into his eleventh life then was placed in exile and Hamish wondered if this version of the Doctor was from that time.

"My name is Hamish McCrimmon," he said and the eleventh Doctor blinked.

"Are you related to Jamie?" he asked.

"Aye, he is my father," Hamish said and the eleventh Doctor frowned.

"Wait, I know all of Jamie's kids. There is no Hamish," he said then Hamish smiled. After Jamie had brought Hamish to the future, Hamish had wondered why the Doctor joked and said they had met when Jamie introduced him to the Doctor. They had met here in this barren waste and Hamish smiled, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

"Aye, Sir, there is. See, I'm his son from the life he had before his mind was put back together. There was this time problem an' he had tae go into the past, with your permission, an' brought me an' my family here tae the present. Well, the present after..." he said then stopped, knowing he couldn't tell him the rest.

"Are you saying that you come from after I'm in exile?"

"Aye, but you've been captured an' I need you tae wake up."

"I'm asleep?"

"An' so are your other lives. Uncle Alan an' Aunt Rain are trying tae help Namid..."

"Wait, my daughter is trying to rescue me?

"It's a long story, Sir, so I need you tae wake up!" he said and the eleventh Doctor uncurled himself, stood up and looked at Hamish.

"What's with the stick?" he asked, pointing to it.

"I'm blind," Hamish said and the eleventh Doctor's mouth dropped open.

"And you're helping them rescue me?"

"Let's just say that I'm a bit of a daredevil," Hamish said with a wink and the eleventh Doctor smiled.

"Right, let's go," he said as they closed their eyes and faded away.

"I have you, Teacher," Mirza said as Hamish blinked and the eleventh Doctor looked around at the others.

"I say, take a look at this one," the second Doctor said as he walked closer and walked around the eleventh Doctor. "I like the bowtie."

"Bowties are cool," the eleventh Doctor said with a smile and the second Doctor nodded.

"He's a bit young, if you ask me," the third Doctor said and the second Doctor scowled at him.

"Well, no one asked you," he said sternly and Hamish softly laughed.

"Doctors, please, there isn't time for this infighting," Hamish said then looked at the last tube. The eleventh Doctor watched him walk toward the tube when he placed his hand on Hamish's shoulder and Hamish stopped, turning toward him.

"Where is my tenth life?" the eleventh Doctor asked, taking a quick count of which of his lives were in the room.

"He went with Uncle Alan and Aunt Rose," he said and heard the eleventh Doctor sighing. He could feel the want coming from him when he placed his hand on top of the eleventh Doctor's hand and nodded. "I ken that you want tae go help them but I need you tae stay here until they send for us."

"Right," the eleventh Doctor said as Hamish let go of his hand and looked at the last tube. The eleventh Doctor became concerned when Hamish became ridged after touching the glass and Mirza tapped his arm, making him looked at him.

'Teacher is fine, Master, he's in there," Mirza said, pointing to the tube and the eleventh Doctor nodded.

The wind and thunder roared around him as the long fingers of lightning slashed across the sky and Hamish stood up, picking the stick off the ground. Walking across the broken ground, he looked around when he saw the twelfth Doctor and blinked. He wasn't shocked by how young the eleventh Doctor looked but the twelfth Doctor looked no more than a young man in his early twenties or late teens. Walking closer, he watched as the twelfth Doctor turned to him and smiled.

"Greeting, War Chief," he said with a polite bow and Hamish stopped, his hearts thumping hard in his chest.

"Um, greetings, Doctor," he said and the twelfth Doctor tilted his head to one side.

"Uh-oh, I forgot about this. This is when the Valeyard takes my lives and you're here to rescue me, right?" he asked and Hamish nodded.

"And I have been told aboot my destiny. Well, most of it. Am I right in thinking that, in your turn as the Doctor, I'm already the War Chief?"

"Well, only for a few days," the twelfth Doctor said with a grin and Hamish nodded. "So, guess it's time for me to wake up then."

"Aye, it is, but..." Hamish asked and the twelfth Doctor walked to him, giving him a big grin.

"Hamish, don't worry, your dad and mother, hell, all of us, are so proud of what you did and I have a feeling that you're going to be brilliant. After all, you're a McCrimmon!" he said and Hamish nodded. Closing their eyes, they faded away and the storm slowly faded, leaving the barren landscape once more at peace.

"Oh, now this is getting silly!" a voice said as Hamish opened his eyes and the sixth Doctor was pacing around the twelfth Doctor. "I will not change into a child!"

"You don't, you clown, you're going to turn into him!" the fourth Doctor said as he pointed to the seventh Doctor and the sixth Doctor growled.

"That's even worse!"

"Hey!" the seventh Doctor said as the second Doctor walked to him and patted his shoulder.

"There, there, just ignore him," he said and the seventh Doctor nodded.

"Are you ever going to stop arguing with yourself?" Hamish asked as the twelfth Doctor walked to him and placed his hand on top of Hamish's hand.

"Nope," he said when the thirteenth Doctor whistled and the others looked at him.

"Look, we all know that we're never going to agree on everything but, right now, our family is in trouble and we need to stick together," he said as the fifth Doctor helped him stand up and the first Doctor handed him the cane.

"He has a point," the eighth Doctor said.

"But the question is, my dear fellows, is just what are we going to do, hm?" the first Doctor asked and they looked at each other while the hissing from the tubes echoed around them.

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